


dubious legacies

by ignitesthestars



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen, Mentors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 16:02:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5503985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ignitesthestars/pseuds/ignitesthestars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Rey stares down at the lightsaber, turning it over in her hands. Even now, she’s half afraid of what she might see. Nothing good seems to happen around this weapon.</i>
</p><p><b>Prompt:</b> Rey asks Luke about Darth Vader.</p>
            </blockquote>





	dubious legacies

Rey stares down at the lightsaber, turning it over in her hands. Even now, she’s half afraid of what she might see. Nothing good seems to happen around this weapon.

But then, maybe that’s just the nature of it being a weapon. She’s trying her best not to make too many assumptions when it comes to this Jedi business. She doesn’t always _succeed_ , but she’s doing her best.

“He said this belonged to him,” she says finally, aware that she’s being watched. “Kylo Ren. And Maz - Maz Kanata told me it was yours, and your father’s before that.”

It hasn’t escaped her that there’s something of a theme here. Rey doesn’t feel _bad_  for not handing the lightsaber over to Ren. But if it’s true - if there’s really some kind of family legacy going on here - why does she have it?

Why had it felt so right to wield it, even in the middle of the terror and agony and exhilaration that was fighting Kylo Ren?

The silence stretches out. The first couple of times, it had made her uncomfortable, the lingering lulls in conversation. It was only once the rasp in his voice had translated to rust that she understood.

Luke Skywalker has not conversed with another human being in a long, long time. 

“I don’t know if that lightsaber ever truly belonged to anyone.” A grim smile touches his mouth, and he clacks his metal fingers at her. “I couldn’t keep a hold of it.”

Her lips part, and a startled laugh blasts out from between them. She claps a hand over her face almost immediately, but too late. Another pause levers them apart, before they crash back together with a soft chuckle of Luke’s.

“I didn’t think you’d find that funny,” he explains.

“I didn’t expect you’d joke about it!” She leans forward, balancing her elbows on her crossed legs, the lightsaber between her fingers. “This is insane, you know that, right? Absolutely crazy. You’re _Luke Skywalker_. This is _Darth Vader’s_  lightsaber. And I’m - I’m just–”

All of her energy abruptly leaves her. She rocks back, away from him, away from the promise he represents. A voice echoes in her mind. At least, she thinks it’s her mind. _You need a teacher!_

Not him. Never him. But Luke Skywalker instead? Rey has imagined a thousand happy endings for herself, but the focus was always on her family. On reuniting, not forging new connections.

Master Luke isn’t the only one feeling adrift. She’s not sure how she knows that he is.

“You’re Rey,” Luke finishes for her. “I’m Luke. My father, before he took on another name, was called Anakin.”

She feels like she has been given something precious, with that tidbit of information. She shouldn’t press, not when she can tell he’s already finding this difficult, but - it feels like an anchor.

Something to tie herself to.

“Do a lot of people know that?”

“Only five, now.”

“N - oh.” The image of Han Solo’s body falling into the endless mist strikes her like a punch to the gut. The lightsaber clatters to the rock, even though she’s mostly sure it didn’t cause it.

It’s an all-too-real memory. Even scrubbing it from her brain wouldn’t reverse the truth of it.

“Can you…tell me about him?” she asks slowly, staring at the weapon. Her face distorts uncomfortably in the reflection.

“Ben?”

There’s a violence to her head shake. Rey doesn’t want to think about him at all. “Your father. Anakin.” Saying the name makes her feel like she’s taking something from Ren. Something dark and awful, that he wanted to keep for himself.

Something untrue.

She hopes it’s untrue.

Luke tips his head back, gazing at something just above hers, or maybe nothing at all. “I’ve found out more since his death than I ever knew when he was alive,” he admits. “What would you like to know?”

 _Anything. Everything_. She grasps at the first thing that comes to mind, the logical starting point. “Where was he born?”

“A planet called Tatooine, in the Outer Rim.” Another one of those smiles tugs at his mouth. She prefers it. “Sand everywhere. You’d hate it.”

“I thought Jedi weren’t allowed to hate anything?”

A flicker of something steals the smile away. She isn’t sure what, but the guilt tastes sour in the back of her throat.

“We’re all of us only human,” he says softly. “Even my father. Even Ben. Even you.”

“Even you.”

Silence again, long enough that she feels the remnants of discomfort start to stir back to life. But then he lets out a breath, and that touch of humour tinges his expression again.

“Well. Everyone can make an exception for sand.”


End file.
